The Lone Wanderers
by Shining Star Writing
Summary: Lila and Aiden grew up together in Vault 101 and have been best friends since birth. Aiden is the son of the Vault's doctor, James, and Lila is the daughter of the Vault's Overseer. When James mysteriously leaves the Vault without a word Lila helps Aiden escape. She decides that she too must leave or face death at the hands of her father's guards for helping her friend escape.


**AN: I can't take full credit for this since a friend helped come up with a lot of the dialog and situations. Anyway, enjoy!**

* * *

"Wake up! C'mon, you've got to get up!" Lila said urgently as she shook her best friend Aiden. The security alarm was sounding at an almost ear bleeding volume.  
He groaned and rolled onto his side, pulling the blanket over his head. "Turn off that alarm clock, would you?"  
She put her hands on her hips. "Oh, I'm sorry. I'll just tell my father's guards to come kill you later."  
"Okay." He mumbled. He sat up quickly. "Wait, what?"  
"Your dad left the vault and-"  
"How? Why" He interrupted.  
"He decided he didn't love you anymore and went on his merry way." She said sarcastically. "We don't know! He just…left. They already killed Jonas and now they're coming for you. So you need to get out of here. Take this and follow me." She handed him a small pistol. "I took this from my dad's office. There's a tunnel under there that leads to the door."

He dressed in a hurry as he ran to follow his friend. They rounded a corner and were faced with the Tunnel Snakes, a small gang of other 19 year olds from the vault. "You two have to help me! My mom's trapped in the room with the radroaches. You have to help her!" Butch begged the two. Lila wrapped her arm around Butch's shoulders and led him away from the group.  
"You give me that leather jacket of yours and maybe we'll consider helping."  
"What? No! You're not in the Tunnel Snakes. Only gang members wear these."  
"You've been nothing but an ass to us for years. I'm willing to help you in return for a jacket. Just give it to me and your mom is safe. But if you'd rather she died…"  
"Okay, okay." He took the jacket off. Before he could hand it to her there was a loud smack and a thud from behind them. They turned around to see Aiden putting on a Tunnel Snake jacket and Freddie, a gang member, lying on the ground unconscious.  
"I've always wanted one of these." He said proudly.  
Lila rolled her eyes, snatched the jacket from Butch and the two ran off.  
"What about my mom!?" Butch called after them.  
"They're only radroaches. Shoot 'em with a BB gun." Lila yelled as she put on the jacket.

They stopped when they were far away from the guards. "The password to my dad's terminal is in his desk. Open the tunnel and follow it to the entrance to the vault." He nodded his head in understanding and the two split up.

After fighting his way through the vault Aiden finally emerged at the entrance, dragging his leg behind him. He stepped into the main area to find Lila sitting there, looking bored. "What are-? Where-?" He looked back and forth from the tunnel he had come through and at his friend sitting before him. "Why did I have to crawl through that tunnel? How did you get here?"  
She stood up. "I'm not the one the guards are looking for. So I just snuck up here through the main hall."  
"Okay. So why are you here?"  
"Because I'm coming with you."  
"Look princess, I've got to look out for myself. I can't be trying to keep you alive too."  
"Look asshole, they're going to assume I helped you escape. If I go back down there they'll kill me too. I'm coming with you." She said matter-of-factly. She smiled and added, "Besides, I've got all the supplies." She showed him the collection of ammo, medical supplies, food and water she had collected.  
"Fine. You can come."  
"Oh, thanks for you blessing. Now let's go, gimpy." She typed the passcode into the computer and the vault door began to open. As they walked toward the entrance, the main door opened behind them. Officer Gomez stepped into the room and closed the door behind him.  
"You did it. You actually did it. You opened the vault."  
"Yes, and you better not tell anybody you saw us here." Aiden warned.  
Officer Gomez held his hands up as a sign of peace. "You two have never given me any trouble. Besides, I owe your dad, Aiden. I hope you find him. You two just be careful out there."  
"We will." Lila promised. They exited the vault and as they made their way through the cave the sound of the door closing stopped them in their tracks. "So, that's it then. We're abandoned."

They opened the wooden door to the Wasteland and got their first glimpse of sunlight. Lila rubbed her eyes, but quickly adjusted to the light. Aiden, on the other hand, fell to his knees. "My eyes! I've gone blind!" He yelled as he shielded his eyes from the sun.  
She pushed him over. "Don't be such a drama queen." She looked at her Pip-boy. "There's a town not far from here. We'll need some new clothes since we're not vault dwellers anymore. And you probably shouldn't be seen wearing stolen Vault Security gear." She tugged at the sleeve of his stolen gear after he stood.  
"I didn't steal it. I found it."  
"Oh yeah? Where?"  
"On a guard."  
"That you killed!"  
"I didn't kill him. Just knocked him on conscious."  
"I saw him lying naked in a pool of his own blood. And I don't even think all of it was his!"  
"Okay, some of it may have been mine."  
She motioned toward his broken leg. "Let me get you a stimpak for that." She dug through her supplies. He sat on a nearby rock.  
"I don't need one I'll just reset it. You might want to turn your head."  
"Why would I need to-" She was interrupted by the sound of the bone resetting. She flinched in disgust and turned her head.  
"Hold on. Just one more…" He attempted again to reset it and let out a yell of pain.  
"Just let me…" She stuck the stimpak needle into his leg.  
"Ow! Ow! Ahhh…" He breathed a sigh of relief. "Much better."

She looked down at her Pip-Boy again. "As I was saying there's a town called Megaton not too far from here. We could walk and be there in a few minutes."  
"Two new radio stations? What's Enclave radio?" He switched it on and Yankee Doodle started playing. He nodded his head to the beat for about two seconds. "Enough of that. Galaxy News Radio." The end of an Andrews Sister's song played and the deejay's voice started reading off news.  
"Not the best selection musically, but that news stuff will be useful." She switched her own Pip-boy to the station. "Now let's go."

As they walked through the Wasteland toward Megaton Aiden checked his gun. Low on ammo. "Hey, give me some of the ammo." He demanded.  
"No."  
"What if we're attacked out here?"  
"I'll give it to you then."  
"Why not now?"  
"If I give you some ammo now you'll attempt to shoot me. And I'm the only help you have out here."  
"You know me so well."  
"Here. I'll just refill your clip and we'll go from there."  
"Fine. But as soon as we find new guns I get to pick first."  
"Whatever."

They approached the gate to the city and were greeted by a Robot. Aiden raised his gun to it. "I'm gonna shoot it."  
"You can go just shooting everything you see out here! You'll waste ammo that way. If it doesn't attack us then don't attack it."  
"You ruin all my fun."  
"I'm saving your life is what I'm doing. And you wonder why I didn't want to give you ammo yet." She said as she walked toward the gate.  
"Welcome to Megaton. Have a great day." The robot repeated as they entered the city.


End file.
